The document is intended primarily for airspace planners and their supporting performance-based navigation (PBN) specialists. A source of guidance, rather than a technical reference manual, the handbook collects best practices to help with regulatory requirements to implement PBN SIDs/STARs procedures within the EU. A particular aspect of this implementation is the route spacing between SID and STAR procedures that can be achieved in congested airspace with radar surveillance.
The first two chapters introduce PBN with an emphasis on aircraft certification and flight crew qualification and connect PBN to the airspace concept, including ATS Routes, SIDs/STARs and instrument approach procedures. Chapter three explains how PBN supports certain operational concepts by enabling the strategic de‐confliction of routes. Chapter four reveals how spacing of routes is calculated. Chapters five and six present the most often met challenges and options when working with PBN, concluding with the outcomes of our analysis summarised in chapter seven.
The guidance material presented in this document is closely related to the European airspace concept handbook for PBN implementation, (Ed. 3, June 2013) which is currently being updated. In particular, this document replaces the handbook’s attachment five on strategic de‐confliction of RNAV and RNP routes in a radar environment and provides updated information regarding PBN and free routes.
The document is available for download below.